Formula One 2011

[Jdawg]

Daniel Ricciardo is to make his racing debut at the British Grand Prix next weekend in HRT
Awesome.

[Mr Ree]

Yeah I read earlier that we are going to have two criminals on the grid now

I hope he isnt too disappointed with the lack of downforce, and general performance compared to the STR car though. They are worlds apart but atleast he can get some experience without the pressure that a new F1 season brings to an announced rookie driver.

Qualifying in the last row of the grid isnt anyones dream debut but I really hope he can pull a stunner out of the bag and atleast match Liuzzi's pace over the weekend. If he does that respectably enough, there will be many people up and down the pitlane who will sit up and pay some attention.

[2jayzgte]

Daniel Ricciardo is to make his racing debut at the British Grand Prix next weekend in HRT
Awesome.

HRT really I would'nt have bothered..HRT are as good as a cart and Donkey EEE AAAAWWWWW...

[Mr Ree]

Be that as it may, its a brilliant way for STR and RBR to access his skills in a racing environment without risking any of their own hardware/reputation in the process, and that will be the point to this excercise.

If he can hold his own against Liuzzi in quali, and race with him and the Virgin Marussia's, he will be in a better position than had he just kept driving on every second Friday FP1 session.

Its so hard for the current junior drivers to get a proper chance to prove themselves these days so he is probably the luckiest test driver on the grid at the moment.

If he doesnt do well, no one will be surprised because as you mentioned, the car isnt a race winner, but he will have gathered so much more data than his equivalents in the other teams.

Poor Karthikeyan though, lets hope HRT let him back in to race at the Indian GP atleast. Sure hes no Vettel, but he did bring much needed funds to the team at the 11th hour so he deserves some respect for that.

[Jdawg]

Was just about to post the same. the opportinity is fantastic for him, with Torro Rosso and RBR able to judge him against a driver with a bit of respect in the pitlane. And the driver lineups for both teams not exactly locked in.
Better to be out there than watching every week like all the other wantabes. How long before he bacomes another Brendon Hartly (no offence BH fans but it looks like his time has come and gone, time to join Dixon in the US gokarting champs)
Many other drivers, including Weber, took their chance and succeeded by showing their talent in the tail end teams.

Also wonder if the decision to replace Narain was due to his constant ability to ignore blueflags. He must have been riding his luck to hold onto his Super licence.

[Mr Ree]

Oh well as nobody else bumped this thread...

Silverstone here we come.

Can anyone see the status quo changing? Will RBR be affected as much as Newey is claiming over the past few days? Will Force India, HRT, and Virgin make a step forward compared to the rest? Will I go insane tomorrow night waiting for the delayed coverage of FP3 and quali?

The answers to all these questions and more later...

[Dunny]

Any GP3 coverage on this weekend, I've not seen it since one of the 1st events of the season when they had some replay coverage in the afternoon one day

[Mr Ree]

I have had a good look through the unreliable sky guide and there is no mention of it but they are playing the GP2 races twice, so its entirely possible thatt they will substitute the second screening for GP3 as they have done before.

Its great that Mitch Evans is leading the championship, about time another NZ driver is put back into the spotlight of GP2/F1 team bosses every other weekend.

The GP3 cars sound funny with their atmo bov's too

[2jayzgte]

I actually hope Mitch Evans goes well I hope if he is serious about F1 he goes the path of GP2 and then maybe get a shot at F1.I think thats where Hartley has fallen down though he was going ok in formula renault i think these days GP2 is the best entry for F1 on the downside Evans will need deep pockets or some decent backing ala what Scott Dixon got when he cracked it in the U.S.

[Mr Ree]

Yeah mate without sponsorship, you are nothing at that level.

If he can take out this year, or atleast finish in the top 3, a GP2 seat is almost agiven so if his results keep doing the talking, sponsorship should hopefully be forthcoming.

I dream of the day we have one of our own in F1, hopefully it happens before Im too old to attend another race

[Dunny]

I thought with Mitch doing so well Sky might entertain the thought of getting more coverage to show.

Anyway hope he does well again this weekend

[thornz]

I thought with Mitch doing so well Sky might entertain the thought of getting more coverage to show.

Anyway hope he does well again this weekend

They have shown all the races so far, and generally replay them both on the Monday after as well. They are poorly advertised though. If you have facebook, either follow the Mitch Evans page:

http://www.facebook.com/mitchevansracing

and/or:

http://www.facebook.com/racingfornzl

Both usually update when races are being shown, and the second link is great for updates on what other Kiwi drivers are up to overseas.

[Mr Ree]

Ricciardo 1.2 sec off Liuzzi after FP1, and 7.5 off Webbers pace.

A big off for Kamui, unlikely that it will be rebuilt in time for FP2 either.

Was very interesting looking at how all the teams have dealt with the changes. A huge array of new diffuser designs to see, most interesting has to be Mercedes GP's mega monster, especially when compared to the tiny RBR unit. Maclarens rear wing slots at the bottom are pretty unique too

The laptimes mean nothing so far though...roll on FP2

[Dunny]

I thought with Mitch doing so well Sky might entertain the thought of getting more coverage to show.

Anyway hope he does well again this weekend

They have shown all the races so far, and generally replay them both on the Monday after as well. They are poorly advertised though. If you have facebook, either follow the Mitch Evans page:

http://www.facebook.com/mitchevansracing

and/or:

http://www.facebook.com/racingfornzl

Both usually update when races are being shown, and the second link is great for updates on what other Kiwi drivers are up to overseas.

Cool thanks, I was just looking for the races during the weekend, good to know they screen them during the week

[Adamal]

Kobayashi's car was managed to be rebuilt in time for practice 2, and he posted the third fastest time!!!!

If anything, I'm amazed that the team managed to rebuild the car so quickly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPwpSVbjlss

[DeeCee]

Kobayashi's car was managed to be rebuilt in time for practice 2, and he posted the third fastest time!!!!

If anything, I'm amazed that the team managed to rebuild the car so quickly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPwpSVbjlss

aye yai yai yai

[Mr Revhead]

Kobayashi's car was managed to be rebuilt in time for practice 2, and he posted the third fastest time!!!!

If anything, I'm amazed that the team managed to rebuild the car so quickly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPwpSVbjlss

aye yai yai yai

lol Yeah I was laughing at the exact same thing.

He either has half a brain or huge balls keeping his foot up it out there

Sideline, we have to watch F1 on sky. One of the big debates in F1 a few weeks ago was keeping F1 free to air.... FFs NZ.

[Mr Ree]

When they said free to air, what they really meant was free to air in Europe andf other BIG countries, as a country as small as NZ will have no significant bearing on their viewers ratings.

I have paid for satellite/cable F1 since TV1 dropped it in early 2000 and while I would love it to be free, I also appreciate the extra bonuses that come with cable E.G No ads breaks ruining the race at a crucial point, being able to watch most FP and quali sessions shown live, watching GP2 and GP3 etc etc.

For the $50 or so a month, its not too bad of a deal, and then having IRL, motogp, SBK, WTCC etc is just a huge bonus The only thing I think we miss out on is not getting MB's grid walk, I just dont understand why we cant get a 30 minute build up to the race, hell we have to put up with an hour of waiting on the grid for Motogp and SBK, even IRL piss around, but F1 no no no!

On a side note, good to see Ricciardo 2 tenths up on Liuzzi after FP2

And on a side, side note, I wonder how big the gun was that RBR held to Renaults head to force them to negotiate the "new rule" about blown diffusers? Amazing that it seems none of the other teams knew anything about the revision until they heard the RBR gurgling under braking.

So from where Im standing, I would expect every non renault engined team to be penalised more heavily compared to pre silverstone form, due to only being allowed to run 10% throttle when off the gas, compared to Renaults 50%. Thats an 80% increase when compared to each other....and certainly not cricket.

Big tings gwarn seen...

[Dunny]

My onscreen guide shows a screening of GP3 Race 1 LIVE at 3:15am Sunday morning

[Mr Revhead]

$50 a month? I haven't seen any deal that gets you sport for $50 a month?